I'll Take Care of You

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Acknowledgements: Much thanks to my editor for putting in all her time and effort.

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Our bodies were roughly entwined, hands groping greedily at each other.

"Kiss me."

I leaned my head forward in response. As our lips met, I closed my eyes tightly, focusing on the sensations of the kiss. I knew it was a dream, but like most dreams I just followed the action mindlessly. Suddenly, everything disappeared in a flash of white.

Bright light seeped through my eyelids as I woke with a start. My curtains had been drawn wide open, letting the sunshine invade my room mercilessly.

"Wha...?" I stammered, trying to get my bearings. The dream had evaporated in an instant, leaving just a quickly fading afterimage.

"Good morning, Sharrrron!" a voice sang, rolling the r's. "Wake up sleepyhead!"

"Gawd fuck off Nat! Geez what fucking time is it?"

"Aww don't be like that! I made you breakfast!" Nat announced in that slightly irritating singsong.

I perked up, or my stomach did, at the mention of food. Peeking through half-open eyelids, I saw the tray Nat held. There were two eggs, over easy the way I like it, and some crisp bacon. There was also a curiously chunky glass of orange juice. Nat followed my gaze as I was puzzling over it.

"Oh, I squeezed the O-J myself! Aren't you proud?"

I hesitated. "Um, is that a peel in there?"

"So picky! The fiber's good for you! Or something! Well, nobody's perfect ya know," she finished petulantly, putting on one of her best pouts. I've seen boys do ridiculous things for her when she makes that face. I was immune to it luckily.

"You think this makes up for yesterday? Your niece is one helluva whiny bitch. Next time you should take her out."

"Look, I'm sorry, I really didn't want to leave you with her, but I just couldn't miss the meeting yesterday. They're our biggest client. We have to give them the whole day. You know how it is." Nat put on a pained face. Her face was incredibly mobile, and you could usually read her face like a street sign. No wonder the boys always thought they could trick her into bed. Not that she needed tricking.

"No, I should be saying sorry. You know I'm a grumpy bitch in the morning."

"Oh? Just in the morning?" She grinned wickedly. I wasn't ready for jokes yet, so I just stared at her until she looked away and her cheeks reddened. She looked so innocent like that, but I knew she had done things that would make most of her boyfriends blush. It struck me that I was thinking of Nat and her numerous partners for the third time in a minute. I guess I was still feeling horny from my dream. My cheeks burned at the half-remembered sensations. Nat looked awkwardly at the floor, afraid to speak up.

Oh right, I was apologizing, I remembered.

"I promised last week I would take your fucking niece out so there's no reason I should be such a cunt about it. Especially since it's over now. You could've warned me, though."

"I know, I know. But wow, you're cursing up a storm today. I hope you weren't like that with my niece. She has delicate ears."

I sighed. "I was good, I swear."

Nat nodded in approval. "Great! Now eat up! I got the day all planned out."

I was still pretty exhausted, so I just concentrated on downing the eggs and juice, leaving her to ramble on. Her words lost meaning, becoming a tuneless sort of elevator music. Being tremendously thirsty for some reason, I forgot about the peel hiding in the juice until I choked on it. My sputtering interrupted her mid-sentence.

"And then, we can hit that store with the sale on - hey, are you all right?" Nat gave me a concerned look. I figured this was as good an opening as any.

"Look, I appreciate your big plans, but I'm worn out. Maybe I'll finish that book. Eat the rest of that bucket of ice cream. Watch some crappy weekend TV. Take it easy. Yeah?"

Also, your plans always end up half-assed, I said mentally. She frowned at me, staying uncharacteristically silent. Her brow furrowed in concentration as if she were trying to make a decision. I think a whole minute ticked by before I started feeling uncomfortable.

"Um Nat?..." I started tentatively, trailing off.

I tried again. "Nat, what are you look-"

"Okay! I've decided!" she interjected. She nodded vigorously as if she were convincing herself. "You're right, of course, you know best. We'll call everything off!"

I realized I had been holding my breath. I let it go in a relieved sigh.

"Except! I still owe you, ya know, so please accept your invitation to the Patented All-NAT-ural World-Famous Full-Body Massage!"

I hesitated. "I don't want - I don't know, Nat. Don't you need a license for that or something?"

"I don't," she replied. "All my customers say I'm the best!"

She did have a lot of customers, even before she got a part-time job at that massage parlor. I frowned as I remembered the people she brought to our apartment. A lot of them were just trying to get in her pants. But seeing her beam with confidence, I didn't have the heart to say anything.

I sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning and finished up my breakfast. I hope she doesn't break my spine, I thought.

---------------------------------------------------

Walking into the living room, I announced, "Okay, I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

She was bent over, setting up the table. I could see her thong and the entire length of her long legs due to her ridiculously short skirt. She does have a nice butt to show off, I admitted silently, though I rolled my eyes at the sight. Wait, I thought, she had been wearing sweats and a t-shirt when she burst into my room.

"You didn't have to dress up just for me. Or undress, more like."

She looked at me pityingly.

"Weak, Shar. So very weak." She pronounced it "Cher," like the singer.

"You're right, that was lame. And you do look good. Only a little slutty." Her top was a surprisingly tasteful blouse with some pretty patterns on the sleeves and along her neckline.

"You really think so? You CAN be nice sometimes!"

She giggled at herself while she locked the table into place.

"Okay, done!"

I started clambering ungracefully onto it.

"Ah-ah-ah," she clucked, shooing me away. She held me at arm's length and peered at me appraisingly. "Clothes off."

"Huh?"

"You heard me, young lady! The great Natalie can only do her magic on bare skin!"

I shrugged and started taking off my pajamas. I felt her eyes on me and looked over curiously.

"Um, do you have to stare?" I asked.

"What? I walk around naked all the time!" She wasn't lying. When we weren't expecting anyone, she would prance around the apartment nude. Saving our air conditioning bill, she always said. "Underwear needs to go too, B-T-W."

"Well, I'm not you. It's kind of weird with you looking at me like that."

"I know, I know. Not everyone can be me. It's a tragedy." She shook her head with mock despair.

"Just turn around for a bit, all right?" I pleaded.

Relieved, I stepped out of my flannel pants as she turned away. I stopped in the middle of unbuttoning my pajama shirt.

"What are you doing?" I demanded. She was staring at me unabashedly.

"I turned around, like you said! A full circle. So I guess I did what you said twice."

I gave up.

"Fine, watch then. Fucking dyke."

She sniffed. "Even if I were one, I wouldn't be turned on. Boring flannel! Plain white cotton panties! Ordinary bra! No striptease or dancing!"

I burst out laughing. "Okay Nat, I'm not very sexy right now. Guilty as charged," I conceded.

I decided I'd turn the tables on her and see how uncomfortable I could make her. Taking off my pajama shirt, I whirled it over my head, swinging my hips. I threw it in the corner, then danced and ground my crotch into the armrest of the couch. Wriggling sensuously side to side in my best stripper dance, I slowly unhooked my bra. I lay back on the couch, letting the bra rest on top of my breasts, and snaked out of my panties sinuously. I shot Nat a sexy stare.

"How do I look?" I asked in a smoky voice.

Nat's only answer was uncontrollable giggling.

"Oh my gawd, you are SO silly! And that voice! You sound like you have strep throat!" The rest of her comments were lost in her laughter.

My entire body flushed. I was so hot with embarrassment I could cook an egg on my skin. Embarrassment turned to anger as I crossed my arms across my chest.

"I knew this was a shitty idea! Fuck this." I muttered, getting up and preparing to storm out.

"Shar, wait! Look I'm-" She stifled a giggle. "I'm sorry, you were very sexy I promise!"

Another giggle burst out. My frown deepened as she continued.

"It's just that I never see that side of you. I thought you were just pretending to be a stripper or something! Just playin' along, ya know? I didn't know you were being serious! Come here, get on the table, I swear you'll enjoy it. Today's all about you, okay?"

She clasped her hands together pleadingly and unveiled her sad puppy eyes. I reluctantly let her pull me back. It was one of her endearing, or maybe frustrating, qualities that you could never stay mad at her for long. I lay on my stomach on the cushioned table, putting my face in the face-hole, or whatever it's called.

"Next time you try your stripper dance, maybe you should go more slowly. Looked like you were hurrying through it. You can't rush sexy," she advised, her smile creeping into her voice.

"But enough of that, on to the massage!" she added before I could respond. "I really am good at this, ya know. Anyways, I'm gonna start by going over your arms and legs and back, get some oil on there and get the blood flowing all right?"

I heard her rub the massage oil on her hands and smelled the apricot scent. She pulled my arms to my side and started lightly stroking and pinching my fingers, gradually working up my arm. Her warm touch brought a tingle along my skin as she moved up to my shoulder.

"Mmm, that's nice," I murmured.

"Like I said, you just relax, enjoy the pampering." I could almost hear her nodding by the way her voice bobbed up and down. She started chattering as she began squeezing her way up my other arm.

"Megan, you remember her, my old college roommate? She said I was amazing. You knew Megan, right? And her so-quiet-it's-almost-creepy boyfriend? They would barely hold hands! She's one of those personal space people. She's got to have her breathing room."

"And even she said my massages were great!" she finished smugly.

"Maybe she just wanted to get in your pants like all the guys," I joked.

She gave a short laugh. "Ha, maybe."

Her strangely reticent response piqued my curiosity. Whenever Nat stops talking, she's definitely hiding something.

"So. What's the rest of the story?" I prodded.

"Oh, I never told you?" She paused, her hand resting on my shoulder. We had a little thing on the side. Like French fries."

It took me a long moment to figure it out.

"French fri - you're gay?" I blurted out. I cringed at how judgmental I sounded. I hadn't meant it that way at all.

"I'm not Gay, I'm Nat, thank you very much. Bisexual would be the right way to put it." She sounded only a little peeved.

"Look, I didn't tell you 'cause you're kind of a prude-" she started.

"Hey!"

"You are, Miss Boring-Panties! I didn't want you to get all freaked out or anything or think I'd start making passes at you."

"Hmm, I guess it kinda looks like I'm coming onto you now, huh?" she asked with amusement. I was suddenly aware of my nakedness and the heat of her palm on my shoulder.

"It kinda does." I laughed away the awkward moment. "C'mon Nat, you know me better than that right? And I'm not a prude, I just don't flaunt it like you do."

She giggled in relief. "Yeah, I should've known you'd be cool. Maybe I was too mean calling you that. How about sexually inactive? Or ice queen?" She paused for effect. "Pre-pubescent?"

I took her teasing in stride. "Excuse me, Miss, shouldn't there be less sass and more pampering?"

"You're the boss!" she replied cheerily. I'm almost positive she saluted even though I couldn't see her.

She continued along my shoulder and up my neck, pinching bits of my flesh between her thumb and forefinger. I felt an agreeable warmth on my skin wherever she touched.

"That's better," I said softly.

As she worked her way down my back, I found my mind wandering back to Nat and Megan's "thing on the side." I couldn't help but imagine Megan with her arms around Nat's shoulders, craning her long neck upwards for a kiss. I pictured Megan closing her eyes shyly as their lips passionately met. Ugh, what am I doing? I thought. Too many chick flicks and romance novels.

I became uncomfortably aware of the smooth padding of the massage table against my breasts and crotch. To my embarrassment, I felt the heat as blood rushed to my breasts and my nipples stiffened. My pussy stirred as well, the outer lips swelling and the familiar wetness starting. I'm not a lesbian, I told myself, I've just been single way too long. Just having someone touch me sensuously like Nat was doing was enough to get me aroused.

It suddenly dawned on me that she had asked me a question and was waiting for my answer.

"Uh sorry, I didn't catch that? I was um...thinking,"

"I said, 'Aren't you going to ask me?'"

"What? Ask you what?"

"About Megan! You must be dyyyying of curiosity. You always ask about every single guy!"

It was true. It's not like I was a virgin, but I might as well have been a nun compared to Nat. I figured maybe I could learn some tricks from her. She never refused to discuss the juicy details.

"Y-Yeah, but this is um...different. Um...won't it be awkward?" I asked tentatively.

"Awkward? Whatever could you mean dear Sharon?" The mischievous grin in her voice was as clear as if I had seen it.

Her hands had been nearing my waist as we talked. She moved a hand down to each buttock, grabbing the expanse of flesh. Slowly squeezing and releasing each cheek, she kneaded each glute with the heel of her palm.

"How could this possibly be awkward?" she asked. Her voice was dripping with amusement.

I laughed, but it was a bit of an uncomfortable laugh. Her massaging drove my crotch against the table, making my pussy complain for attention. The weight of my body smothered my breasts, rubbing my distressingly sensitive nipples against the padding..

"C'mon Nat, stop that, it's getting kind of weird."

"Weird or not, you'll just have to deal with it. This is an essential part of my world-famous technique, ya know."

As she spoke, she drove the base of her hands even more deeply into their respective ass cheek. I let out a pained squeak as she mercilessly dug into the flesh.

"Ow, that fucking hurts!"

"It only hurts 'cause you have soooo much tension there! It'll get better soon, I promise."

I gritted my teeth doubtfully as she relentlessly mashed at my buttocks. Abruptly, something changed. Each thrust of her hands still brought the same soreness, but now my muscles seemed to relax and accept her strokes. When her hands hit the tender knots buried under my flesh, I felt a rush of pleasure accompanying the deep aches. The sensation startled an unintended, erotic "Ohh" from my throat. I blushed fiercely at the unusual sound, my earlobes burning hotly with mortification.

"See? I told you. You just need to relax, okay?"

I silently thanked her for not commenting on my embarrassing moan.

"Don't worry about any sounds you might make. Some people are really sensitive. Especially lonely girls who stay single for months at a time 'cause they're always grumpy and shy. And when they do get a boy, he turns out to be a one-minute man."

I silently took back my apology and not-so-silently threw in a curse for good measure.

"Oh my, such language! My virgin ears!" she cried.

"I am NOT always grumpy. And Tim was nice, okay! It's not his fault he had...issues...performing," I said, choosing my words carefully. She laughed at my discomfort.

"All right, let's not talk about your depressing love life. I'll tell you about mine, since it's so much awesomer."

I stuck out my tongue, even though she couldn't see. She began working on the top of my thighs, squeezing the back of my leg first and reaching around to the front. I squirmed when she roughly pushed into my quads with her fingers.

"Hey, hey stay still," she admonished. "So, hmm. I'll tell you about Megan, since you haven't heard that story yet. I promised her a massage...I don't even remember why, probably copied her notes or something. Yeah, that must've been it. Anyways, she gave me a little hug in thanks. I was surprised of course. You remember how she was, right? She was never a touchy-feely kind of person. She kind of clung to me, hanging around my neck 'cause she was so short. Then she went up on her tiptoes and gave me the tiniest, weakest kiss on the lips. I've had hotter kisses with my dog!"

"But after she came down, she was still holding onto me. Real tight, too, like she was gonna fall or something. I still remember looking down and seeing her in a totally different light. When she looked into my eyes with her hair kind of mussed and tangled across her face, she seemed so innocent, and then she blushed...sooo cute! Her entire body was real hot, like she was gonna burn up in my arms. I couldn't resist. I had to kiss her again. A proper kiss this time, with some real tongue."

She sighed longingly at the memory, and I think I heard her lick her lips too. Her description eerily echoed my earlier imaginings. I struggled to avoid picturing their entwined bodies again, but it was futile. I felt my pussy re-lubricating and swelling in arousal. With my pussy in its sensitive state, I couldn't ignore the heat from Nat's hands, which were working hard on my inner thighs. I recoiled from her touch as if her fingers were some kind of freakish bug about to bite me.

"Hey, what are you doing? Don't freak out!" She sounded a little exasperated. "Your quads have tons of tension. 'Cause of all the biking, ya know? I don't get how you can stand it."

I waited impatiently for her to move away from my thighs, but it seemed like she was dragging it out. She really is good at this though, I admitted, as she eased the knots out of my upper leg. She had surprisingly strong arms, so she was able to force my tightly wound leg muscles into submission. I closed my eyes, sighing contentedly and enjoying the sensations as she discovered and relaxed each tense spot with her expert hands.

She had stopped chattering and grunted like a caveman with each stroke. I guess she needed to concentrate to get through my muscles. I took the silence as a blessing. Without her teasing and sensual reminiscences, I could take pleasure in her massage without worrying about any odd sexual tension. By the time she finished my thighs and quads, I finally felt fully at ease.

"Hey Nat?"

"Yah?"

"I'm sorry I'm being such a bitch. You really are good at this."

"It's okay. I've been teasing you a lot too." She poked my calves with one finger. "Ugh these are gonna be tough too. You don't need to work out so much, ya know."

"I like keeping in shape. Maybe you should come with sometime," I invited.

She made a face. Well, I couldn't see it, but I knew she did.

"I don't like gyms. They're sweaty and gross. And yes I mean the actual building! The walls and carpets bleed sweat. The air's all humid and yuck. And the old people! Ew!"

I sighed jealously. "I wish I had a body like yours. You barely do anything, but you always look great."

"Guess I gotta thank the parents for that. Good genes and all."

When I didn't reply, she added, "Hey don't go all anorexic on me, you look good enough."